The Cave
by Magos186
Summary: A thief came in the dead of night & stole Bella from her bed. She's been missing for days & they're no closer to finding her. Will she be rescued in time, or will the monster who stole her break her completely? NM AU, dark opening. Non-cannon wolf pairs. Will be Bella/Paul eventually. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Warning…this is going to be dark. There is rape, but that part's only one line and not too descriptive.

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><p>Pain. Everywhere that someone could feel pain she did. She even felt pain in places she didn't know she could. She had been taken from her home in the dead of night and brought to this god forsaken cave. Her captor kept his face covered and his voice disguised, but he couldn't hide his scent from her. She knew it better than she knew her own by now. She smelt it every day as she sat next to him in that tiny red garage, watching him work on his car, or their motorcycles. She smelt it every time he pulled her into one of his bear hugs. She'd always known how he'd felt about her…he loved her more than anything, he said. He'd wait for her to heal, he said. He'd never give up on her, he said. But the day he became a wolf and didn't imprint on her, everything changed. He was no longer the boy with the beautiful long hair that felt like silk as she ran her fingers through it while his head lay in her lap watching a movie. He was no longer the boy whose smile would brighten her day and light up her insides. He was no longer the boy who would help her hold herself together as they sat on the beach staring at the waves. He was her nightmare now. The one who kept her from the world…who shut her up in a cave she couldn't escape with only a small pond and a tiny hole in the ceiling that let the occasional light through as her companions. The one who told her father that he didn't know where she was, who watched Charlie break down more and more every day they didn't find her. He was the monster who stole her and tied her up. The monster that just beat the shit out of her…broke multiple bones, definitely punctured a lung, and raped her.<p>

She screamed. He covered her mouth with his hand. She bit it as hard as she could. He smacked her in the face, cracking her cheekbone and splitting her lip. She raised her tied hands and tried to hit him. He grabbed her wrists before her hands even got close to his face. She screamed louder as he slammed her wrists down onto the ground, breaking both of them and several bones in her hands in the process.

When he knew the top half of her was incapacitated, he moved down her body, literally ripping her shirt from her as he went. She tried to fight through the pain. She broke her foot kicking him in the family jewels, thinking it might be the one vulnerable place on his body. Unfortunately, it wasn't. He grabbed her leg and roughly pulled it to the side, slamming it into the ground and all at once dislocating her hip, fracturing her pelvis, and breaking her knee and leg. She screamed louder than she ever had before as the pain hit her body full force. He didn't notice though. Or if he did, he simply didn't care. He ripped the shorts from her body and had just entered her, tearing through her hymen and destroying the one thing she had left before she blacked out. She didn't hear the growls, snarl, or howl of the lone wolf at the cave entrance. She didn't see the wolf rush into the cave, tearing him from her body. She didn't see the wolf beat, rip, claw at her attacker. She didn't see the wolf turn back into a man, who quickly untied and pulled on the shorts at his ankle. She didn't see him pull out a black, two-way radio and call for help. She didn't see the face of her rescuer. All she saw was the blackness. She welcomed it with fervor, hoping it would consume her. She was sad she'd never see her father again, but grateful that she was dying. No one could live through the injuries she'd sustained. She'd once survived a vampire's bite, but she knew there was no way she could ever survive an angry werewolf's vengeance.

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><p>AN: I know you're all waiting for an update on Birth of a Phoenix, but I'm having a bit of an issue starting it. Once I get some free time, I promise I'll get the next chapter written and posted. This though…I've had a crap day. Long crappy day at work, followed by a piece of crap brother and…nevermind. I'm not going to get into it here. Suffice it to say I've had a very shit day and this was just the culmination of it and my attempt to let go of some of the anger. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

He was too far out of range for the radio to work, so as soon as he was sure Jake was unconscious (and would stay that way), he hurried outside and phased, letting out the loudest howl he could. Within seconds he felt the whole pack phase.

"Paul, what's going on?" Sam demanded.

"I found Bella. She's in a bad way. Leah, get your mom and her bag and get here now. She'll have to ride you. Any other way's too slow and you're the fastest. And bring whatever flashlights and lanterns you can. Run east until you hit the treaty line. You'll be able to follow my scent from there.

"Jay, Em, go to my place. In the front hall closet you'll find a big black duffel bag. There's a small green bag you need to grab too. Grab as many sheets and towels as you can too. Jay, you know where. Em, strap it all to his back and get here," Paul ordered calmly, but firmly. It was times like these it was easy to see why he was the Beta.

"Quil, you, me, Jay, and Em are gonna have to run her to the hospital. We're gonna need shirts and shoes for us all. Seth'll strap it to you. Seth, after you do that, call Charlie. Let him know we found her and tell him to meet us at the hospital. Then get on the phone with the hospital. Tell them the following from me: 18 year old female, unconscious and unresponsive. Severe trauma, multiple broken bones, dislocated hip, definitely a punctured and collapsed lung. I need them to get ready to do a full body scan and prep an OR. Have them get everyone ready. Then have them get on the line to Seattle General. We're going to need Dr. Raybourne to fly up here and bring at least 6 bags of AB blood. It's Bella's type. Go."

"Paul," Sam said, as soon as they phased, knowing he wouldn't be alone with Paul for long. "Do you know who did this?"

"It was Jake. He's had her trapped in a cave this whole time. I tore him up pretty bad. He should be out of it long enough for you to get here and us to get her out. Keep Seth away. He doesn't need to see this. And clear a path on your way here so we can get to the hospital without worrying about branches and stuff."

Paul phased quickly and pulled on his shorts, rushing back to Bella. Her condition hadn't improved in the few minutes he spent getting help, but fortunately it hadn't worsened either. She was having trouble breathing due to her collapsed lung, but there was nothing he could do about that until Sue got there with supplies. He did cover her as best as he could with the scraps of clothing he found, before lying down next to her to help her body warm up. He did say a quick prayer of thanks to the spirits for guiding him to her and he also prayed she'd hold on long enough for them to get her help.

Within the next five minutes, a grey wolf appeared with a woman on her back. Paul hurried to help Sue down and then rushed back to Bella. The first thing he did was find a needle in the bag of medical supplies. He pulled the plunger out and carefully inserted it into Bella's chest. Instantly he could hear the hiss as the trapped air escaped, allowing her to breathe normally. He taped the needle in place while Sue applied a pressure dressing to the worst place the girl was bleeding from. It would be too hard to pressure dress her other wounds as the only other places she was bleeding were places her broken bones pushed through the skin.

Leah had just finished setting up all the lanterns and lights, brightening the cave considerably, when Jared & Embry showed up. Embry phased back and unstrapped everything from Jared, bringing it all to Paul before even worrying about pulling on his shorts. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of looking at Bella once he had them on. In an instant he was outside the cave, throwing up. He was amazed that someone could still be alive after being broken the way she was.

Paul and Sue wasted no thought or time on the others though. Paul immediately began grabbing supplies from the bags, one of which was an oxygen tank he quickly got over the girl's face. He also grabbed two thick blankets, throwing one at Leah and then at Jared. "Wrap these around you to get them warmed up," he ordered as he pulled out all the splinting material from the bag. He and Sue then began to get all of Bella's broken limbs and her hip splinted. They started with her foot and worked their way up, pulling a wolf warmed blanket over each part of her when they were done. When they finally had her as stable as they could get her, Paul pulled out a large, thick sheet, with long, thin poles attached to the end. With Sue's help, they gently slid the poles under Bella's knees and neck, bringing the sheet along with it. Once she was in the middle of it, they pulled the poles down and up respectively, making sure her entire body was on top of the sheet before Paul pushed something and it began to inflate.

"What's that?" Jared asked as he put on the clothes Quil had just shown up with.

"It's a vacuum stretcher. It will conform to her body and injuries so she can be safely moved. Is everyone here and ready?"

"Embry and Quil are dressed and outside. I'm ready to go. I have a tee and sneakers for you over here," Jared said, gesturing to the side of the cave. "And Sam's about ten seconds out."

"Good," Paul grunted as he finally moved away from Bella, quickly throwing on the shoes and shirt before going back to her side. "Grab the boys Jay," he said as the stretcher finished inflating.

"Paul," Sam said quietly as he entered the cave. "Where is he?"

"In the back with Leah guarding him. Take Sue and her kit back with you. She can help patch up the asshole. I'll show you what I saw later, but for now we need to get her to the hospital." He straightened the cord on the oxygen tank and gently placed it between Bella's knees under the blanket to keep it in place while they ran. He quickly got her strapped in and ready to go. "Jay, you and me will take the top. Quil and Em take the bottom. We're gonna run this army style. Left, right, left, right." The boys stepped into position and each grabbed a handle. "On my mark, lift. Ready? One, two, lift." The boys all lifted at the same time, Bella suspended between them. "Alright, let's move double time. Left, right, left, right, left."

The boys quickly got into a fast, synchronized rhythm, their wolves lending their speed while in human form. If anyone saw, they'd look like nothing more than a blur. At that moment, they were each grateful to be a wolf because they knew that any other form of transportation would be too slow. As it is, it took them only seven and a half minutes to run the twenty-five mile distance to Forks General Hospital. They slowed to human speed once they hit the road, out of the cover of the forest, but they still kept as fast a pace as they could. There were several doctors and nurses waiting outside with a gurney, as well as Charlie and two other officers. Dr. Gerandy was the first to notice the boys though, and began to move the gurney towards them. "Lahote, come with us. Give us the stats on the way to x-ray. Everyone else, waiting room," Dr. Gerandy ordered as they got Bella on the bed. They wheeled her into the hospital so fast the others barely had time to register it. Just like that, Bella Swan's life was in the hands of the Forks Hospital staff.

A/N: From what I've found, vacuum stretchers need to be inflated with a hand pump, but for time and convenience's sake, I made this one auto-inflatable. Also, I am not a doctor so please keep that in mind when reading the medical stuff.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey. I'm back. I'm sorry this update has taken so long but it's been a couple of crazy busy months. The updates may be far between for this one, but I'm going to try my best to get the chapters out faster. I hope you enjoy. Thank you everyone for your amazing reviews. I'm glad you're all interested enough to keep reading. Also, have no fear. The overwhelming NOs won the poll.

Warning: In this chapter there is a brief mention of abuse/child abuse. Paul gives his backstory.

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><p>Ten grueling hours later, Paul stepped out of the shower in the doctor's locker room and put on a clean pair of scrubs. He wanted to make sure all of Bella's blood had been cleaned off of him before he spoke to her father. Charlie's nerves had been frayed enough with the search for her and it was going to be hard enough to see her covered in casts and bandages in the ICU. The man had helped him a lot in his life and he wanted to make this as easy for him as possible. Well, as easy as telling him his daughter was in critical condition.<p>

Paul finished dressing and headed out to the surgical waiting room. This one was three floors up and in a different wing from the one where the rest of the wolves currently waited, so he knew nothing would be overheard. "Charlie," he said softly as he saw the man lying across the couch, his police jacket over his chest. The man shot up like a bolt at his name, his eyes quickly locking onto Paul.

"How is she?"

"Alive. I'm not going to lie to you…she's literally broken Charlie. We had to put her in a medically induced coma because if she wakes up, she could do herself more harm than good. She's got mild hypothermia, a broken cheekbone, and two broken wrists with multiple broken bones in each hand. She has a broken foot and ankle, dislocated hip, fractured pelvis, a broken knee and leg, three broken ribs, one of which punctured and collapsed a lung. We've repaired it, but we have her on a ventilator to take some of the pressure off the lung until it heals."

Charlie's mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to even produce a sound. "Is—is there anything else? Was she—?" he asked. 'Please God let him say no. It's a miracle she survived this much,' he prayed.

"Yes, she was. It was very short, but very brutal. There was internal damage we had to stitch. We won't know if she's pregnant for a few months yet. Come on, I'll take you to her. It's not going to be easy seeing her like this though."

"I know. Just take me to my baby."

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><p>TCTCTC<p>

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><p>Paul walked into his house more exhausted then he'd ever been. Then again, ten hours of surgery would do that to any doctor. He'd been given the rest of the day off and his shift wouldn't start until noon the next day. He was grateful for that. Even with his wolf stamina, he wouldn't be of use to anyone without some rest. This had definitely been the longest day of his life.<p>

"Is Bella going to be okay?" Seth asked from the couch. He, along with Sam, Embry and Quil were all waiting in his living room. They'd left the hospital once they were told Bella was out of surgery.

"The next few days are critical, but if she survives them then she'll recover. She's currently in the ICU and only family is allowed with her so you all might as well go home. I'll let you know when you can start visiting. Seth, Charlie's there in his uniform though. You might want to ask your dad to go to his place and make him up a bag. I doubt he's leaving her side for a while."

Seth nodded and the wolves filed out the back door, all but Sam. 'Guess we're doing this now,' Paul thought to himself. All he wanted to do was lay down, but instead he made his way to the kitchen to make a large pot of coffee. He also was surprised to see four large covered dishes in his fridge.

"Emily made all that when we told her what happened. She knew she couldn't do anything at the hospital so she cooked. I think she has twice as much in her fridge for Charlie. She didn't know if she'd be welcome considering…"

"Where is he anyway?" Paul asked as he got the coffee started. Once that was done he pulled out a tray of lasagna, put a good chunk on a plate and sat down at the kitchen counter.

"We've got him covered. When you first phased, you were so angry I didn't know if you were going to do something drastic or not so I reinforced the old well in my backyard with several extra layers of concrete and steel. Jared and Leah are guarding him. Old Quil performed a ritual to temporarily bind his wolf so he won't be as strong as us. The elders want to talk to you before punishment is decided."

"As long as you're guarding him, they can wait til tomorrow. Once we're done I seriously need to get some sleep."

"I heard you were operating on Bella. Since when are you a doctor?"

"A couple years now," he said around the last bite of lasagna.

"But you're only twenty-three."

"Just call me Doogie Howser."

"Can you tell me the whole story?"

"I've always been an outcast," he said as he stood up and walked his plate to the sink. He didn't think he'd be able to tell this story facing Sam. "Most of that was my own doing though so no one would ever find out what was going on at home. The one time I did tell, my parents lied and I got my leg broken for my trouble. My mom was never going to leave him. So I saw college as my only way out. I threw myself into studying. By the time I was 13 I was able to get my GED. I applied to a few places and I got a full ride to UW…youngest recipient ever. Charlie Swan was actually the one who helped me get in. He was the one person I told about home. Unfortunately there was no proof so he couldn't do anything legally, but he was always there for me.

"Anyway, I went away to school. When I got home from my first year, I found my mother bleeding to death in the kitchen, a knife in her leg. I called 911 and did what I could to help her, but she didn't make it. As soon as the old man walked in the door though I knew he did it. Charlie was there by then and arrested him on the spot. He confessed an hour later and has been locked up ever since. By the time he gets out he'll be 83. Anyway, that was why I decided to become a doctor, because if I had been one, I might have been able to save my mom. I never wanted to feel that helpless again." Paul turned back to Sam, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Charlie's helped me out a lot over the years. He helped me get through my mom's death. He let me live with him whenever I came home from school. When I graduated med school and decided to do my residency here in Forks, he helped me tear down my parents' house and build a new one that wasn't full of pain and bad memories. He's the only one who knows all of this and I'd appreciate it if you could lock down your memories so the boys don't find out."

"Of course," Sam said gruffly. He couldn't believe just how little he knew about Paul. The man had been in his pack for six months now and he hardly knew him at all. "Is there…is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just keep the elders off my back for a while so I can get some sleep. If I'm not up by 9am tomorrow, come wake me up. I have a shift at the hospital at noon so I can see them before I go to work."

"Sure. If you need anything, just give me a call," Sam said as he stood and turned to leave. He'd just gotten outside and closed the door when he heard the soft "Thanks Sam" come from inside.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N1: Sorry for the long wait guys. I haven't felt much like writing. I am thinking about putting this one up for adoption. If you're interested, let me know.

A/N2: Mentions of Bella's injuries, including the rape, but no details other than the word itself.

A/N3: Harry is still alive. He did have a heart attack, but he survived it.

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><p>Sam walked up to Paul's large, one story house at precisely 8:45am. They had a meeting with the elders at 9:30 and he figured 45 minutes was enough time for Paul to get up and get ready. What he wasn't expecting was the multitude of aromas wafting down the driveway. He knocked on the door, receiving a soft, "it's open" from inside. While the exterior of Paul's house looked like it belonged in the forest, the interior, at least what he had seen of it, most certainly did not. The living room was small, for a man of their size, pure white, with built in shelves, a small TV, a couch, and driftwood floors and coffee table. There were four large skylights in the ceiling, letting in plenty of natural light, while the far wall held two sets of double doors. The top half of the doors had been painted to show a blue sky and bluer ocean, while the bottom of the doors remained clear, showing the stonewall that acted as a porch barrier.<p>

The living room opened to the large kitchen, which was just as white, with dark wood floors and stainless steel. There were two islands, a large fridge, and a large stove and oven. There was a door off to the side, which contained the largest pantry he'd ever seen, as well as another large fridge, a large freezer, a trough sink filled with dirty dishes and pots, and a double oven in the wall. It was the kind of kitchen Emily would kill to have and it was all covered in food.

"Hey Sam," Paul said, his back to the man as he rinsed the dishes in the sink before loading them into the dishwasher.

"Damn man! Where did all of this come from?" Sam asked amazed, as he sat on a stool.

"I woke up around 5am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I started cooking. I know Emily made some stuff, but this way I'll be able to go at least a month or more without cooking and this way Charlie won't have to eat hospital food." There was container after container of both wolf and regular size portions lined up and stacked on every available space of counter. There was even more overflow stacked in the pantry, though that appeared to have been more bread and pastry then food.

"I didn't know you could cook."

"I had to learn. When my mom died, Charlie took me in. The elders allowed it. They all liked him and they agreed some time off the Res would help, considering what happened here. So I spent my summers and holiday breaks with him. The only problem was that neither of us could cook, so he signed us up for cooking classes in Port Angeles. It helped us bond and get over that initial awkwardness. I picked it up super quick…Charlie not so much. To this day the only meals he can cook are fried eggs and grilled salmon. I spent a lot of time cooking and packing up meals for him to freeze so he had food while I was gone. When Bella came, she did the cooking so I didn't have to worry about him as much."

"Did you know Bella? How did you guys work that?"

"I never actually met her. I'd seen pictures around the house, but by then Bella didn't come around a lot and if she did I was in school. We did write to each other a lot though. Charlie'd told her about me and vice versa and I was curious about her. So one day I wrote her a letter. I wasn't expecting an answer, but she wrote back. We became pen pals. Once computers became more popular, we switched to emails. She's a pretty cool chick. I can't believe this happened to her," he said sadly, closing the door to the dishwasher and starting it up. "I need to put all this in the freezers, then shower and I'll be good to go. There are some popovers in the warming drawer next to the stove if you're interested, butter's in the fridge. Feel free to explore too if you want."

"Thanks. Do you need some help moving all this stuff?"

"No thanks, there's a system to my food. Wouldn't want it to get mixed up."

Sam sat and watched as Paul practically danced around the kitchen, moving from counter, to the main fridge/freezer, to the pantry and back again. The whole process of moving the 112 glass containers off the counters took no more than 10 minutes. When he looked, Sam saw all the pastries and bread had been moved to the freezers as well.

"When do we have to be at the council hall?" Paul asked, removing his apron and hanging it on the pantry door.

"We have to be there in twenty."

"I'll be back in ten," the younger man said as he left the room. Paul had never invited anyone to his house aside from Jared, and Sam now assumed Charlie as well. So while he was very tempted to try a popover, he decided to explore the house instead. The front door opened into a small foyer, with the same driftwood flooring as the living room and the same white walls. There was a large closet on both sides, before opening into the living room. Then came the kitchen and pantry. If you stood facing the kitchen, behind you was an open dining room with the table, chairs, and floor the same dark wood as the kitchen floor. There were two archways leading out of the dining room, one of which Paul went through so Sam took the other path. If led to a hallway with multiple doors. The first door was a half bath done in a dark powder blue. The next room revealed a large laundry room, with top of the line washer, dryer, and a large sink. There was a panel on the wall, which pulled down into an ironing board, with the iron tucked neatly away inside. There were several shelves over the washer, which contained the detergent, dryer sheets, etc. Across the hall, there was a very interesting room. It was a small bedroom, with two skylights, an odd ceiling fan and a full size bed. There was also a chaise lounge, and two fake, potted palm trees, with a dresser and TV in the corner. The interesting part was the walls though. On one wall was a window frame, but it wasn't a real window. Inside the window frame was a tropical beach, with palm trees and the ocean. The main, most stunning part though was the main section of the wall. It appeared to be open and wrapped from the front wall around to the side. There was a small waterfall, with an infinity pool and the ocean, obviously a continuation of what was in the window. It looked gorgeous and so real. When Sam touched it, he realized it was just a wall decal, but it was an amazing illusion.

Off to the side, a door appeared where the decal ended. It led to a decently sized bathroom with a tub and large shower. He went back into the hallway and found two more guest bedrooms with identical bathrooms attached. The bedrooms followed the same tropical beach theme, but with different decals. The first was a white room with a sand colored tile floor. The bedding was white, but the furniture was a deep brown wood. The ceiling was also done in a deep brown, with several skylights and a fan. On the wall opposite the bed was a large doorframe with two open, fake doors. The scene depicted on that wall was a patio overlooking clear turquoise waters on a bright day. The second bedroom had very pale blue walls, with two real windows on the same side as the bed. Across from the bed was a black dresser with a TV, which matched the black bed frame. To the left of the bed were two open patio doors, which led to nowhere. Through the open doors was a decal of a different patio overlooking a blue ocean on a clear day. That was it for the section of the house he was in, so he went back to the dining room and took the other hall. He found another bedroom; this one also had skylights, as well as a small window in the wall and an interesting architectural design. There were four framed photos on the wall and three above the bed. Getting closer, he could see that four of the photos were of Paul and Charlie throughout the years, and the other three were photos of Bella throughout her life. 'So Charlie has a permanent room here, I guess,' he thought to himself. There was a large, dark powder blue bathroom attached with a tub and good-sized shower. There was only one more doorway at the end of the hall, and two large doors down the hall. He tried the door at the end of the hall first, and found what must have been Paul's bedroom. It was a light gray room, with dark floors and a California king, sleigh style bed. There was a dresser across from the bed with a TV on it. To the left of the door into the room, there was a glass door, which revealed a massive walk in closet. On the wall to the right of the dresser was a door to the back patio. To the right of that was a smaller room. It held two chairs with built in bookcases on the walls and a fireplace. To the right of that was a door that likely lead to the master bathroom, where he could hear Paul getting ready. Not wanting to interrupt him, Sam left the bedroom. Across the hall from Charlie's room was another small living room. This one was also white, with a large wooden built in piece on the wall, which held a small bookshelf, the TV, and a built in fireplace. There were two brown couches and a brown chair, with a large window the same size as the sliding glass doors next to it, which led into the backyard. Sam moved out of that room to the final set of doors in the hallway. He opened them and found a short hallway lined with windows. At the end was a large greenhouse. It was filled with row after row of vegetables and herbs, all neatly labeled.

"I see you've found my hobby," Paul said as he came up behind Sam.

"This is amazing," Sam said softly.

"Thanks. I like to grow as much of my own food as possible since becoming a wolf. Seeds are a lot cheaper. But the climate here is too harsh for much of it so I built a greenhouse instead. Anyway, now that you've seen the house, we should get going. I'm not looking forward to this meeting, but we need to get it done as quickly as possible."

TCTCTCTCTCTC

Ten minutes later the two men arrived at the council hall. All the wolves were there, minus Leah and Jared, dressed in the usual t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Paul himself was wearing a black button down shirt with dark jeans and black sneakers. There wasn't a set dress code at the hospital, where he was heading as soon as he was done here.

"Thank you all for coming," Billy Black said from his seat in the center of the council of elders. Beside him were Old Quil Atera, Harry Clearwater, Edgar Lightbow, and Sam Uley. Sue Clearwater was there was well with a laptop. She'd be taking the dictation of the "trial." "Paul Lahote, please come forward," the Chief requested and Paul moved to stand before them. "Do you solemnly promise on your honor as a protector of this tribe that what you are about to tell us is the truth?"

"I promise."

"Very well. Please recount your day for us, the day you found Bella Swan."

He easily told them the story of his day. How he was in his wolf form, out looking for Bella once again, when he felt a pull to venture over the treaty line onto Cullen land. He followed the pull and heard a very faint scream. After a few minutes, he picked up Jake's scent. It was very recent, which he thought was odd since Jake wasn't supposed to be out patrolling that day. He tracked Jake's scent to a cave with a large boulder covering the entrance. He moved the boulder out of the way and found Jacob Black on top of Bella. Paul quickly explained everything that happened from that moment until they left to run her to the hospital, glossing over the medical jargon. He wanted to gloss over her injuries too, but knew they needed to be recorded. "Bella Swan sustained 10 broken bones, plus additional breaks to multiple bones in both her hands, a fractured pelvis, a dislocated hip, and a collapsed lung, as well as mild hypothermia. She was raped as well, and sustained some damage from that. The hypothermia is likely taken care of by now, however she is currently on a ventilator in a medically induced coma in critical condition. As for her attacker, the last time I saw Jacob Black he was unconscious and bleeding in the back of the cave."

"Thank you Paul," Sam said when Billy did not. He looked around and found Sue had tears running down her face as she typed, as did Seth, Quil and Embry. Billy and Harry weren't faring much better. Both men had known Bella practically her entire life. Hell, Harry was set to become her legal guardian if anything ever happened to Charlie, had been since the day she was born, he was her unofficial godfather. Neither man could believe this had happened to a girl they loved, and certainly not by a boy they knew his whole life, a boy the chief himself had raised. "Let's take a ten minute break. I'll have Leah and Jared bring in the accused," Sam suggested.

The elders left the room and both they and the wolves took the time to compose themselves. Seth was having the hardest time so he and Paul went outside. It was Paul's duty as Beta of the pack to look after the others when the Alpha couldn't. "How are you doing kid?" Paul asked, sitting next to Seth on a bench.

"I don't get how this could happen. Jake always seemed so normal. He was always nice to me. We all know he loved Bella. Why would he hurt her like this?" Seth asked softly, his head resting in his hands. Paul threw his arm around the kid's shoulders.

"I don't know. Sometimes people just do bad things. We'll have to wait and find out why."

The two sat in silence together, the younger drawing strength from the older, until Quil came out to tell them it was time to start again. "You know you don't have to come back in," Paul offered. Seth may look like an adult, but he was still just a kid. This wasn't something he needed to go through.

"No, this is pack business and like it or not, I'm part of this pack. We all need to be here for this," Seth said as he stood, a fierce determination in his eyes. Paul nodded and the two went back inside. Jake was standing in front of the council now, his hands and feet chained. Jared and Leah were standing on either side of him, both holding clubs in case he tried anything.

"Jacob Black," Billy said, his voice clear and strong. He needed to be strong. He could not let his voice waver, no matter how badly he wanted to, no matter how badly he wished this wasn't happening. "You are charged with the kidnapping and assault of Isabella Swan. You were caught by one of our protectors during the assault. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I have nothing to say. Of course I took her. She's mine. She always has been and she always will be," he stated, his eyes crazed.

"But she is not your intended mate."

"Like I care what the gods have to say about that. I want her. I'll take her. That's it, imprinting be damned," he snarled.

"Then you leave us no choice. Jacob Black, you have been found unworthy of this tribe. You are unworthy to be a protector and you are unworthy to be the future chief. Your wolf will be bound, until such a time that he believes you are worthy of him and you will be banished from these lands for the next ten years. You will also be turned over to the County Sheriff to face their justice for your attack on their citizen. They will be here in one hour to take you. Until then, you will go back to your cell where the first part of your sentence will be carried out."


End file.
